The East Side Gallery is the longest surviving section of the Berlin Wall, painted by artists from around the world after 1990. Walking along it, students see how artists dealt with division, freedom and reunification, and it's a good place to talk about what the Wall meant for people in Berlin. It's free, on Mühlenstraße, and a visit takes 1 to 2 hours.

The Bundestag runs guided programmes for school groups in the Reichstag building. Students see the plenary chamber, visit an MP's office and go up to the dome, and the tour ends with a short quiz. The programme for grades 7 and 8 takes about two hours; the one for grades 9 and 10, which includes lunch, takes about three.

The Berlin Dungeon takes the class on an hour-long journey through 600 years of the city's darker history, from medieval torture chambers to secrets of the city palace. Actors, special effects and detailed sets make the stories feel very real. It's entertainment first, but students tend to remember what they hear. It's centrally located, and the show takes about an hour.

GRIPS Theater is Berlin's well-known theatre for children and young people. Its plays deal with topics students care about, such as friendship, belonging and exclusion. Schools can add a workshop, a discussion after the show or a backstage tour to see how a theatre works. The main stage is at Hansaplatz, and performances last about 1.5 hours.

The Alte Nationalgalerie on Museum Island shows 19th-century art, including works by Caspar David Friedrich, Monet and Renoir. Besides guided tours, it offers workshops and project days for school classes, so students can look at the art and its historical background in more depth. A visit takes 1 to 2 hours.